Do you ever strum using just your finger nails?

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Yep, although it's just the edge of a thumbnail.
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down with the fingers, up with the thumb sometimes, if it's a slow song, but otherwise always a plec

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donkey tugger wrote: Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:49 am I like to grow them, then cut them, stick all the bits together, and use it as a plectrum.
Plectrums are fairly cheap you know, I wouldn't go to all that trouble mate, you need to stop watching Blue Peter, they lost me with paper mache. :roll:
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Jafo wrote: Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:26 pm Yep, although it's just the edge of a thumbnail.
I strike the strings with my fingers.
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AnX wrote: Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:35 pm down with the fingers, up with the thumb sometimes, if it's a slow song, but otherwise always a plec
Never tried up with the thumb only down with the fingers, I'll have to try that.
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I use the back of my index fingernail. On both electric and acoustic, I find it gives me a tone I can't get with a pick. I'm not a tone snob, I just think I have slightly more control than with a pick for the kind of playing I do.
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Henry Jimdrix wrote: Sat Apr 03, 2021 4:18 pm
AnX wrote: Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:35 pm down with the fingers, up with the thumb sometimes, if it's a slow song, but otherwise always a plec
Never tried up with the thumb only down with the fingers, I'll have to try that.
dirty old town, great track for that! :tu:

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Nope. The only thing I grove my nails a bit for is to strum my exhaust pipe. :-P

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I often do. I feel I have more control of the sound and expression when I leave my pick in the case and use my finger nails.

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All the time.

In the pre-internet age I lived miles away from guitar stores and I was always dirt cheap broke. Back then I'd fold up match books into triangle shapes and when I ran out of them the only way I was going to play guitar was with my fingers. Thinking of myself as mainly a rhythm guitarist to accompany vocalists I just did. I didn't study how to I just figured it out on my electric guitar as that was my only option.
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Hewitt Huntwork wrote: Sat Apr 03, 2021 4:34 pm I use the back of my index fingernail. On both electric and acoustic, I find it gives me a tone I can't get with a pick. I'm not a tone snob, I just think I have slightly more control than with a pick for the kind of playing I do.
Yes you do get a unique sound that you can't get with a pick, I think i want to say it''s a brighter sound.
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tapper mike wrote: Sat Apr 03, 2021 7:10 pm All the time.

In the pre-internet age I lived miles away from guitar stores and I was always dirt cheap broke. Back then I'd fold up match books into triangle shapes and when I ran out of them the only way I was going to play guitar was with my fingers. Thinking of myself as mainly a rhythm guitarist to accompany vocalists I just did. I didn't study how to I just figured it out on my electric guitar as that was my only option.
Wow,. times must have been tough.
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Well I can never find any of the picks I bought when I do pick up the guitar so

Yes
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Sometimes. More often by far for acoustic or bass though. I prefer to use a pick for electrics.

edit: Oh, fingernails? Nope. Fingers, yes.

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I've had this obsession with fingernail playing like a classical guitarist for years. The tone has more focus and clarity, as well one can fingerpick with nails considerably faster than without. I just couldn't grow them due to my manual labor jobs. Last year that ended and I could grow a decent set of nails. It has pluses and minuses. I could no longer tap and pick like I'm used to because my nails would get beat up buy the strings. I play overhand chords with my picking hand. So I decided to give tapping a break for awhile. I actually went back to using flesh on strings as opposed to nails on strings for a number of reasons. Mostly scratch tone no matter how well my nails were filed and the inability to tap like I used to.
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